moss > Limited Masterpieces 2007: Böttger-ware pair of Camels

JUL 4, 2008

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Limited Masterpieces 2007: Böttger-ware pair of Camels

designer:
Erich Hoesel

design year:
1931

manufacturer:
the Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen, Germany

materials:
red fine stoneware, called Bögersteinzeug

notes:
From a limited and numbered edition of 25 pieces. Each piece bears the letters 'LM', painted beneath the traditional Meissen mark of the crossed swords, and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719) worked as an alchemist for King Augustus of Poland after he fled from the King of Prussia, who attempted to seize Böttger, believing that he had mastered the secret of the "Philosopher's Stone". Augustus of Poland put him to work immediately searching for the same impossible task of making gold from base metals. The task ended in failure, naturally. The court scientist to King Augustus, Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651-1708), suggested to the King that Böttger’s services might better serve the monarchy if he were to turn his attentions to the creation of earthenware that would fill the King's treasury with profit resulting from industrial production. The King agreed, and both Böttger and von Tschirnhaus began experimenting with clays and earths between 1708 and 1710. As a result, they succeeded in producing red stoneware, called Bottgersteinzeug, that was so hard it could be polished on the lapidary's wheel.

Böttger wanted to make a "hard-paste" white porcelain, simliar to the porecelain the Chinese had been producing since 613 CE, instead of merely imitating and refining earthenware, as he had been doing with his experiments in red stoneware. Around 1710, he found the proper balance of materials to mix into what was to be the first true European white porcelain with a smooth texture and translucent quality, and the Meissen manfuactory was established. Effectively, this discovery ended the use of the red stoneware.

A resurgence of interest in red stoneware began in the early 20th century. Max Adolf Pfeiffer, who was Meissen's director from 1918 until 1933, reintroduced pieces executed in this unusual and challenging material into the collection.

Erich Hosel (1869-1953), who sculpted these two fugures, began his studies in sculpture at the Dresden Art Academy in 1886. Upon his graduation, he was awarded a travel grant, which took him to the Middle East - a source of inspiration which ultimately led to the creation of these remarkable animal figures. An acknowledged master sculptor, Hosel became superintendant of design at Meissen in April 1903, and Director of Design from 1912 onwards.

dimensions:
15.75" and 14" height

price:
$11,000.00